An artist's rendering of Terrafugia's vision for the future of personal transportation. The flying car uses tilt-rotor technology, the same kind found in the Marines' V-22 Osprey.

Written by

Chris Woodyard
| USA Today

Even though its first flying car is still at least two years away, a Massachusetts aerospace firm has unveiled a new design for a future product after that, one more akin to a helicopter than a plane.

Like its winged Transition flying car, its first product, which is now scheduled for delivery in 2015, Terrafugia's TF-X would drive like a car on the ground, then take to the air like a plane. But instead of requiring drivers to find a runway, they could merely head to the local helipad - or a parking lot - and take off using tilt-rotor technology.